Self-driving cars coming to Ireland next year

An Uber driverless car in San Francisco. European lawmakers say greater regulation is needed ahead of the appearance of such vehicles on our roads. Self driving cars will be on Irish roads over the coming years, according to a new EU report.

However Ireland South MEP Deirdre Clune has called for action on regulation to be put in place for these vehicles.

“I spoke in the Parliament recently regarding safety and liability rules for driverless cars. Several countries around the world are moving rapidly towards making both connected and automated mobility available on the market and the EU needs to respond much faster to the developments in the sector,” Ms Clune said.

The Parliament concluded that Europe has to intensify its efforts when it comes to regulatory framework, research, innovation, smart infrastructure in order to become the world leader in the digital vehicle space.

“Profound changes could be coming down the track when it comes to our cars and other vehicles. We need to make sure we are ready for these changes when cars especially become more digital. There are many ways in which digitally enhanced vehicles can be beneficial such as increasing traffic flows and reducing the environmental impacts of transport. However, there is still a lot of uncertainty in this area and I believe we need to get proper regulation in place before any driverless cars are on our roads.

Reports say passenger cars with automated driving functions are bound to enter European road transport very soon from 2020 on and technologies will further advance and extend to all types of road transport, including utility vehicles and trucks.

“With this in mind it is vital that we continue efforts to ensure there are proper regulatory frameworks in place and the roads are safe for users. One issue that should be considered is who […]

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